North-South Corridor

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister please update the house on the government's north-south corridor project?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:06): I thank the member for her question and her keen interest, because South Australia is indeed building. The government is investing a record $25.6 billion in infrastructure, which will create jobs, support our economy and improve the lives of South Australians. At the centre of this is the Torrens to Darlington Project, the largest initiative in South Australian history. Following an exhaustive procurement process, which commenced in January 2023, the consortium comprising of John Holland, Bouygues Construction, Arcadis Australia, Jacobs and Ventia has been selected as the preferred alliance partner.

These companies individually have an extensive track record of successfully delivering major tunnelling infrastructure projects across the country and internationally. The successful consortium has confirmed they can deliver the Torrens to Darlington project on budget, delivering significant travel, economic and community benefits for all South Australians. The consortium's plans to procure three tunnel boring machines, instead of two previously anticipated, will mean that both the north and the south tunnels can be constructed concurrently. This gives us a reasonable expectation that the state-shaping project can be completed not only by the 2031 deadline but even earlier.

In the coming weeks, the construction consortium will set up the major construction site at the southern laydown area in Clovelly Park and engage with local communities as early works continue along the corridor. In conjunction with this, more than seven kilometres of South Road will have been resurfaced by the end of the year. Main construction works for the installation of the second left-turn lane from Manton Street to Adam Street are well underway. The main construction works were released this month for Grange Road/Holbrooks Road/East Avenue intersection upgrade. Concept plans for the broader network upgrades have been released, including the Raglan Avenue, Edward Street and South Road network upgrade—something the member has championed for a long time.

Not only is it the largest infrastructure project in our state's history to support 5½ thousand jobs per year during construction and slash travel times across the 10½ kilometres to just nine minutes but it will also provide an unprecedented economic opportunity for local businesses.

From June 2020 to June 2024, the Torrens to Darlington project has supported approximately 896 jobs, around $350 million worth of contracted works, with approximately 90 per cent of the commitment to date being South Australian-owned businesses. Ninety per cent of the labour hours will be undertaken by South Australians. This is a key election commitment brought in by the Malinauskas Labor government. The consortium has committed to a minimum of 6 per cent Indigenous employment on the project and more than 600 jobs for apprenticeships and trainees.

More than 300 local businesses have already registered their interest in being involved as a subcontractor on the project through the ICN network. We are getting on with this job of delivering South Australia's record infrastructure investment.